Scald and skim the juice drained from them. Butter a baking dish and lay three or four thin sHces of buttered toast upon the bottom of the dish. Put half the oysters upon the toast. Cover them with thin slices of buttered toast, and put the balance of the oysters upon the toast. Add hot, sweet cream to the liquor drained from the oysters until there is a pint in all, then season to taste with salt✪ Scollop Oysters, No. 2 and pepper, and pour it over the oysters in the dish. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes in an oven at the temperature for roasting meats. Serve at once. If oysters are cooked a long time in a deep mass the juices are drawn from them, and they become tough and indigestible ; and if cracker crumbs are used in scollop- ing oysters they give the oysters a peculiar, unpleasant flavor. To Bake Potatoes. — The potato furnishes an excel- lent illustration of right and wrong methods of baking. There is, of course, but one right method of baking potatoes ; but they are baked by three different methods, and it is only by accident, and not oftener than once in ten times that the average cook in baking potatoes pur- sues the proper method. Following one method, the potato is placed in a very hot oven, and before it is half cooked a thick crust is formed which is sure to be charred and burned by the time the potato is thoroughly baked. Following another method, the potato is placed in an oven at a low temperature and the oven is allowed to remain at the same temperature until the baking is completed, in which case the result is a soft, flabby, limp production devoid of character and almost flavor- less. Following another method, which is the correct Baking, 59 one, the potato is placed in an oven of moderate tem- perature and subjected to a gradually increasing heat, un- til the inside is thoroughly cooked, the skin has assumed a light brown color and a firm consistency, and the at- mosphere is filled with the delicious aroma of a perfectly baked potato. An excellent method of baking potatoes, and one that will be found convenient when it is necessary to bake them in less time than is required to do it in the oven, is this : Put the potatoes into boiling water and let them boil rapidly for ten or fifteen minutes, then bake in a hot oven until they are well cooked and have a rich brown skin. Parboiling potatoes in this manner heats them all through so quickly and thoroughly that the time required to bake them afterward is reduced at least one half. When baked potatoes are taken from the oven a gash about an inch in length should be made lengthwise in each potato, and the ends should then be pressed, to widen the gash and permit the steam to escape. Baked potatoes should be served in a deep dish or tureen, lined with a napkin that can be lightly folded over so as to protect them from the cold air. Served in this man- ner they will remain hot and mealy for a considerable length of time. To Bake Sweet Potatoes. — Sweet potatoes may be baked like white potatoes ; or they may be cooked in this manner : Boil in a liberal quantity of water until they can be easily punctured with a fork, then drain, re- move the skin, divide into halves lengthwise, dust with salt and sugar, roll in melted butter, place in a dripping pan, and bake in a hot oven until a rich brown crust is 6o The Art of Cookery.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Scald and skim the juice drained from them. Butter a baking dish and lay three or four thin slices of buttered toast upon the bottom of the dish. Put half the oysters upon the toast. Cover them with thin slices of buttered toast, and put the balance of the oysters upon the toast. Add hot, sweet cream to the liquor drained from the oysters until there is a pint in all, then season to taste with salt and pepper, and pour it over the oysters in the dish. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes in an oven at the temperature for roasting meats. Serve at once. If oysters are cooked a long time in a deep mass the juices are drawn from them, and they become tough and indigestible ; and if cracker crumbs are used in scolloping oysters they give the oysters a peculiar, unpleasant flavor. To Bake Potatoes. — The potato furnishes an excellent illustration of right and wrong methods of baking. There is, of course, but one right method of baking potatoes ; but they are baked by three different methods, and it is only by accident, and not oftener than once in ten times that the average cook in baking potatoes pursues the proper method. Following one method, the potato is placed in a very hot oven, and before it is half cooked a thick crust is formed which is sure to be charred and burned by the time the potato is thoroughly baked. Following another method, the potato is placed in an oven at a low temperature and the oven is allowed to remain at the same temperature until the baking is completed, in which case the result is a soft, flabby, limp production devoid of character and almost flavorless. Following another method, which is the correct Baking, 59 one, the potato is placed in an oven of moderate temperature and subjected to a gradually increasing heat, until the inside is thoroughly cooked, the skin has assumed a light brown color and a firm consistency, and the atmosphere is filled with the delicious aroma of a perfectly baked potato. An excellent method of baking potatoes, and one that will be found convenient when it is necessary to bake them in less time than is required to do it in the oven, is this : Put the potatoes into boiling water and let them boil rapidly for ten or fifteen minutes, then bake in a hot oven until they are well cooked and have a rich brown skin. Parboiling potatoes in this manner heats them all through so quickly and thoroughly that the time required to bake them afterward is reduced at least one half. When baked potatoes are taken from the oven a gash about an inch in length should be made lengthwise in each potato, and the ends should then be pressed, to widen the gash and permit the steam to escape. Baked potatoes should be served in a deep dish or tureen, lined with a napkin that can be lightly folded over so as to protect them from the cold air. Served in this manner they will remain hot and mealy for a considerable length of time. To Bake Sweet Potatoes. — Sweet potatoes may be baked like white potatoes ; or they may be cooked in this manner : Boil in a liberal quantity of water until they can be easily punctured with a fork, then drain, remove the skin, divide into halves lengthwise, dust with salt and sugar, roll in melted butter, place in a dripping pan, and bake in a hot oven until a rich brown crust is 6o The Art of Cookery.

Records on this page

Scollop Oysters, No. 2

The art of cookery